41 travelers at this place:

Salvador is an interesting city that is primarily influenced by Africa in everything from the food preparation, the handicrafts and the music.
We had a fascinating excursion today that was a percussion workshop. It was located in one of the favelas (Salvador has a population of 2 million with half living in favelas). We were in a small recording studio that was owned by a gentleman named Peta who had been playing percussion instruments since he was 5 - he is now 47.
He was an incredibly patient man and entrusted each of the 12 of us with one of his special instruments. He taught us various samba rhythms and gave us each a chance to play something. He gave us an idea of his musical history and life in Brazil. He is extremely talented and explained that as a child he would practice one particular beat for 3 hours at a time. He just completed Carnival here where he played for 8 hours each day.
And, bless his heart, at the end he encouraged us all to take up an instrument and try to play with his background beat. Instead of plugging his ears, he smiled a wide smile and made us feel pretty good about ourselves.Read more

I arrived in Salvador dead af on 4 hours sleep so the first day was pretty eventless. Taxi to the hostel as I couldn't be bothered to faff around with the bus, got some food and then socialised with people at the hostel during the unlimited happy hour. After I went to bed and had one of the best nights sleep I've had in ages! Feeling totally refreshed the next day.

After that I met these really sweet English girls who are on their gap yah. They invited me to a couple of museums with them in the day so we explored the old town, and had lunch and then more free caipis. The evening was another chilled one as I'm on a budget and couldn't afford to spend anymore. So I ended up just watching Netflix but tbh really enjoyed it as it's the first time I've watched tv in ages.

The next day it ended up raining buckets the whole day so I didn't really do that much but we did go to this really tasty vegan restaurant for lunch and then in the evening we ended up going to a bloko party as part of pre-Carnaval in Barra which was loads of fun. I was really hungover the next day haha.

On my last day, everyone was pretty dead out but we decided to go to this island which is about a 45 min boat ride from Salvador called Itaparica. It was really nice but the boat swayed loads and that plus hangover made me feel really sick. On the island we chilled on the beach and had a really nice lunch, such a perfect and relaxed last day in Salvador before I jetted off to Rio for Carnaval.

I had to get up at 4am for my flight (stupidly booked it for 6am) and had a mini melt down whilst I was waiting to board the plane when I realised my bumbag with my money, cards and GoPro was missing. The security guys were all trying to help but I was completely flapping and couldn't understand anything they were saying or vice versa. Luckily, it had been handed in and it was just unnecessary stress for so early in the morning but it could have been a lot worse!Read more

The first stop of our 2 weeks adventure is Salvador. Once the magnificent capital of Portugal's New World Colony, Salvador is the country's Afro Brazilian jewel. The city is marked by the harsh history of the African slave trade. However, today's lively Bahian capital offers a unique fusion of two vibrant cultures.

To get there we took a direct flight from Sao Paulo. When we reached our hostel, we were really surprised in a positive way when finding a cosy hostel right in the historic centre of Pelourinho with a swimming pool on a terrace. Pelourinho is a Unesco declared World heritage site of colourful colonial buildings and magnificent churches. As the right tourists we went directly to the streets to explore. When wandering around, I was just amazed by its liveliness and colours everywhere.

Moreover, the state of Bahia is well known for its amazing cuisine. We wanted to try a local dish called Moqueca so we looked for the right restaurant. If you wanna attract czech people to enter your restaurant...offer them a free caipirinha. Thats exactly what made us to choose the right place. :D Moqueca is a dish based on a fish or other sea food, tomatoes, onions, garlic and coriander cooked with coconut milk and served with beans and rice on a side. We chose a shrimp one and it was just delicious. After a good food it was time to relax by the hostel's pool with a happy hour of free caipirinhas. If you are ever in Salvador, book your stay in the hostel Galeria 13!

The month of June is characterized by the festas Juninas (June's celebrations). So, in the evening we were ready to go out to enjoy the nightlife scene of Salvador. All the streets were colourfully decorated and music was coming from every corner. Also the capoeira performances took place almost at every square of the city. Capoeira combines elements of the fight, the game and the dance. It was developed by Afro-Brazilian slaves more than 400 years ago as a means of maintaining a ready self-defense against their masters. Today it remains a uniquely Bahian art form.Read more

Our second day in Salvador started with a rainy morning so we enjoyed a relaxed great hostel breakfast before the weather got better and we headed to the streets of Salvador. Once more we walked through the historic centre of Pelourinho before we aimed to the waterfront of the city called Barra. On the way we took a ride in an elevator that connects the upper part of the city with the waterfront, checked some souvenirs in a market place, and met a really cool old rasta man with who we took some rasta pictures. In Barra there was a really nice promenade with many restaurants around. So after lunch we chilled on the beach and later walked towards the South America's oldest lighthouse (Farol da Barra) for the sunset. In the evening we went back to the hostel to pick up our luggage before we took an overnight bus to our next stop Lencois, the base to enter the national park of Chapada Diamantina.Read more